Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
840 results found in assistive technology.
- Screen Reader Plugin (Add-on, Extension, Script, Add-in)
- A small piece of software that extends or modifies the functionality of a screen reader. Plugins allow users to customize their screen reader experience, make partially accessible applications more us…
- Screen Reader Rotor (VoiceOver Rotor, Rotor Control)
- A virtual control in screen readers like VoiceOver that allows users to change navigation settings and access different options by performing a rotation gesture on the touchscreen. The rotor lets user…
- Screen reader
- An assistive technology application that converts digital text and interface elements into synthesized speech or braille output. Screen readers enable blind and low-vision users to interact with compu…
- Screen-Free Editing (Screenless Editing, Eyes-Free Editing)
- Text editing that does not require visual interaction with or physical contact with a device screen. Screen-free editing approaches use alternative input methods such as mid-air gestures, voice comman…
- Screenless Interaction (Screen-Free Interaction, Displayless Interaction)
- Interaction with digital systems that does not require a visual display, enabling users to operate devices while untethered from screens. For people who are blind, screenless interaction eliminates th…
- See-Through Display (Optical See-Through Display, Transparent Display, OST Display)
- A display technology that allows users to view digital content overlaid on the real world by projecting images onto a transparent or semi-transparent surface. Unlike opaque (occlusive) displays that b…
- Seeing AI
- A free AI-powered app developed by Microsoft for blind and low vision users that uses computer vision and AI to describe the visual world. Features include reading short text, documents, and handwriti…
- Self-adapting user interface (Adaptive user interface, Adaptive UI)
- A user interface that dynamically modifies its presentation, interaction modalities, or behaviour in response to changing conditions such as user capabilities, environmental factors, device characteri…
- Semantic Compaction (Minspeak)
- A method of encoding language for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) that maps concepts onto sequences of multi-meaning icons. Each icon is deliberately ambiguous, and meaning is resolve…
- Semantic Navigation (Semantic Navigation Framework, Structured Navigation)
- An approach to organizing digital content into a meaningful hierarchical structure that users can navigate through logically ordered elements rather than by spatial position. In the context of accessi…
- Sensory Aid (Sensory Assistive Device)
- Assistive technologies that translate sensory inputs into alternative modalities to support people with sensory disabilities in the workplace and daily life. Examples include screen readers (visual to…
- Sensory Substitution (Cross-Modal Substitution)
- The use of one sensory modality to convey information typically perceived through another. For example, converting visual information into tactile or auditory signals for blind users, or representing …
- Sensory augmentation (Sensory substitution system, Sensory augmentation technology)
- Technology that provides information from one sensory channel through an alternative modality accessible to the user, such as converting visual scenes to audio descriptions for blind users or translat…
- Sentence Prediction (Phrase Prediction, Utterance Prediction)
- An AAC text entry acceleration technique that suggests complete sentences or phrases based on what the user has begun typing. Unlike word prediction which completes individual words, sentence predicti…
- Serious Game (Serious Games, Applied Game)
- A game designed for a primary purpose beyond entertainment, such as education, training, health intervention, or cognitive rehabilitation. In accessibility and healthcare contexts, serious games are u…
- Shadow Speaking (Shadow Captioning, Respeaking)
- A captioning technique where a trained human operator listens to live speech and repeats (or "respeaks") it clearly into a speech recognition system, which then generates real-time captions. The shado…
- Shape Display (2.5D Shape Display, Pin Display, Tactile Shape Display)
- A physical computing device consisting of a grid of motorised pins that can be raised and lowered to create dynamic tactile relief surfaces. Shape displays render digital 3D content as physical topogr…
- Shape-changing Interface (Shape-changing haptic interface, Morphing interface)
- A physical interface that conveys information by changing its own shape or physical orientation — for example, a servo-driven lever that rotates to point in a specific direction, a cube whose top half…
- Shared Augmented Reality (S-AR, Co-Located AR, Collaborative AR)
- An augmented reality setup in which multiple users share a spatially aligned view of virtual content anchored in the same physical environment. Each user wears a head-mounted display and can see and i…
- Shared Control (Collaborative Control, Shared Autonomy)
- An assistive technology design approach in which control over a system is dynamically distributed between a user with a disability and an assistant (human or automated), allowing each party to manage …